Hem & H.A*
(Historically Adequate)

This ruff is another piece that was originally planned for my presentation at the  Westcoast Elizabethan Clothing Symposium  ( "Wearing vs Styling: Accessorizing to Create a Period Look" ), which focused on using accessories to build a richer, more period wardrobe.  Specifically, it was meant to feature in  Part 3  of my talk, which centered on re-styling the same black fitted gown for different decades (from 1540-1650). 

As part of my talk for the  Westcoast Elizabethan Clothing Symposium ( "Wearing vs Styling: Accessorizing to Create a Period Look" ), I decided to attempt to make a pair of late 16th / early 17th century embroidered and decorated leather gloves.

I decided I needed a quick, last minute project for this year's Renaissance Faire (I like to try for at least one new piece every season, even if it's just an accessory) and settled on the short waistcoat from The Typical Tudor.

( NOTE: The bulk of this post was written in 2022 but it was not completed and published until two years later, so the timeline it describes might be a bit confusing) *** Like so many of my other outfits, this project started out as something entirely different. Well, not entirely ...  I've been in love with these images of Bavarian camp followers since I first started down the rabbit hole of 16th c. costumes (now many years ago).

I'm still working through the backlog of pieces that I completed during lockdown but never got around to photographing. Next up: A 1590s loose gown. I realize that it's getting a bit cliche to describe every new outfit as having been "on the go for a while" but man...this one has REALLY been on the go for a while. Looking back at my old posts, I've been planning and working on this project for at least the last 10 years. 

This is another project that has been on my to do list for a while. It started almost exactly a year ago: I made my first mock up during the July long weekend last year and took these photos over the same holiday weekend this year.  It was meant to be a quick summer project, but it was almost immediately derailed...because I have the attention span of a gerbil.

  My first foray into early period!  While my heart still belongs to the insanity of the 1590s and beyond, I have to say that I have a soft spot for the simpler, elegant lines of the early 16th c. silhouette. It's just so darn pretty! Having said that, it should come as no surprise that this outfit (as usual) began life as something else.

(NOTE: This project was started back in early 2020 and was finished at some point in 2022. Trying to piece together the process 3 years later has been... interesting .  So I apologize in advance if this whole post reads like a fever dream.) So... Despite this being my first attempt and more complicated tailoring techniques, I have to say that this project originally started as a bit of a "throw away".

As mentioned in a  previous post , I decided to start on an outfit inspired by the Dutch folk hero Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer. I go into quite a bit of detail on the planning in that earlier entry, so for this one I'm just going to jump right into the construction process!

  Well, it's been a hot minute but I finally have an update for this (very neglected) blog! It's been a year (or three) of starts and stops. Despite the radio silence I've actually been working on quite a few slow-burn projects, including two that didn't quite go to plan.

I'm not exactly sure what this garment is meant to be... A gown? A kirtle? The inspiration came from the Trevelyon Miscellany of 1608, a collection of images appropriated and later redrawn and coloured by Thomas Trevelyon.

Another Faire season has come to an end and I was really hoping to have my 1590s gown finished in time for the last weekend. However, about a week out it was clear that I just didn't have enough time to get the various pieces finished and assembled, so I decided to do a last minute pivot back to my trusty  blue waistcoat .

So I decided I needed a new foundation garment!  I also wanted to re-draft my kirtle bodice (again) and experiment with less boning...or in this case, no boning at all. To that end I made a my first set of petticoat bodies!

Here is what I hope to be the final construction/dress diary entry for my  brown fitted gown  now that all the loose ends have been (literally) tied up...Only this time it's been re-accessorized in the style of a Lucas de Heere print! This is the first time I've actually tried to reproduce a documented period image and while it wasn't totally successful the process was a lot of fun and definitely one I'd like to repeat.

At long last, the (at this point almost mythic!) Brown Fitted Gown is finally complete!!!   Frankly, I wasn't at all sure it would ever get finished! Especially considering that the first version was sketched out just shy of five ( FIVE! )  years ago, when I first conceived of the project and started this blog.  The design was tweaked several times along the way, with progress --or lack thereof-- chronicled in increasingly intermittent posts over the last few years ( YEARS! ).

Finally! The "Kirtle of Perpetual Procrastination" is complete! I'm now one step closer to finishing that elusive fitted gown outfit that I started planning an  embarrassingly  long time ago (like, an absurdly long time ago...to that point that it's getting ridiculous).

When in doubt, make a ruff! I'm currently stuck between two half-started (read: stalled) projects...and when faced with indecision I do what I always do: accessorize !!!

So hey... Remember when I said I was waffling but was still definitely, totally, one hundred precent committed to a loose gown for my 1590s outfit? Right . About that... Yup.  I've changed my mind. Again.

Well...it's been four years since I decided to jump into 16th century costuming, and while I still haven't started that elusive fitted gown (someday!!) I do finally have a  second  outfit! Hooray! And to be honest I actually really enjoyed the whole experience and am pretty please with the final result (a few small errors notwithstanding). This the first sewing project that moved from conception to completion without any major changes or setbacks. For the most part...

I had a week off work before the last weekend of this year's SoCal Faire, so I was able to make some new pieces to wear with my waistcoat for a much posher look.